Dr. Ben Carson, renowned surgeon and potential Republican Presidential candidate, recently voiced his support for homeschooling and opposition to Common Core, the public school curriculum adopted by 46 states nationwide.
Speaking at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference at National Harbor in Washington, D.C. on Thursday morning, Dr. Carson stated, "I am ready for school choice."
He went on to define "school choice" as permitting parents to homeschool their or send them to private schools with government aid.
"We need to recognize education is the great liberator in our country. No one has to be a victim," Carson said, "The best education is the education that is closest to home and I've found that for instance homeschoolers do the best, private schoolers next best, charter schoolers next best, and public schoolers worst."
In a later segment, Dr. Carson expressed his negative views regarding Common Core, the controversial curriculum implemented in public schools across the U.S.
"Common Core is not school choice. I do believe in standards, but those standards obviously are set by parents and people who do homeschooling or they wouldn't be doing so well," he said.
"Our public schools need to learn how to compete with that, but they don't need some central government telling them how to do it."
Carson, who formerly served as head neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins and is a best-selling author, is currently contemplating a bid for the 2016 presidential election. He is widely regarded as a favorite among Conservatives for his openly Christian views, including opposition to abortion, which he compared to human sacrifice, and gay marriage, which he has likened to bestiality.
"He is an unapologetic conservative on both economic and social issues yet has a manner that is not strident or off-putting," Radio host Laura Ingraham explained to MSNBC of his popularity among Conservatives. "He speaks in commonsense terms and offers practical solutions."
Although critics have said Dr. Carson's unwavering stance on hot-button issues may undermine his presidential prospects, the 63 year old husband and father says he's not backing down anytime soon.
"If you're pro-life, you're 'anti-woman.' If you're pro-traditional family, you're a 'homophobe.' If you're white, and you oppose a progressive black person, you're 'racist.' If you're black and you oppose a progressive agenda, you're 'crazy.' And if you're black and you're pro-life and you're pro-traditional family, they don't even know what to call you. You end up on some kind of watch list for extremists!" he told CPAC attendees.
"I absolutely refuse to submit to the p.c. police. I will continue to speak out and I will continue to say things.[But], you know, I have learned not to be quite so caustic," he said laughing. "There are things that sometimes you say without thinking them through deeply and people just remember that and don't remember anything else."
Other scheduled speakers at CPAC include former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz.
During his remarks, Carson also talked other pertinent issues including ISIS, supporting Israel, creating a fair tax system, and caring for the poor without government bureaucracy.
"It seems like each time I am here, we are getting closer to critical time periods in our country," said Carson about CPAC, "The country [needs to] to change course."
